Noblesse
by MissMarieMay
Summary: Forced to stay in this house for several months will be hard for him to cope with, because within this cold and dark house, Tsuna knows something is terribly, terribly off. As they say, things are not always as they seem. Especially when said things are an old house with old history.
1. Misterioso

_**Disclaimer**__: I don't own and will never own Katekyo Hitman Reborn in my life._

_Misterioso (Italian); mysterious - The mood of a musical piece being mysterious, secretive, or enigmatic._

**_Chapter One _**- _Misterioso_

* * *

It's been a month. One full, long, terribly slow-moving month. Maybe even more (or at least to him that's what it felt like), that Tsuna has been in this dreadfully small and boring town! His mother had said that there would be tons of things for him to do in this… this _village_ (it had no right to be called something along the lines of a town, it wasn't even as big as his neighborhood!), but she had blatantly lied to him. This had to be the most boring place on earth, I mean, there was nothing to do all day except stand around and watch the snow fall so very slowly to the ground, _that's_ how dreadfully boring this town was. Oh, why, why, _why_ had his mother made him come with to visit his supposedly sick (he sound just fine over the phone) grandfather? And why, why, _why_ did his grandfather have to live on the outskirts of such a desolate town on the countryside of Italy, no less? But most of all…

Why, why, _WHY _did he, Tsunayoshi Sawada, the most laziest, the most unconfident, the most everything-that-didn't-have-anything-to-do-with-being-good-at-anything person in the entire world have to actually stay behind and take care of the sick old man just because the delirious old geezer wanted his "favorite and cute grandson" to!

It just made absolutely no sense!

Then what didn't make even more sense was that his parents, his family, his wise and smart dad, _actually said yes_. How could they even do that? Leaving their minor of a son with a sick old man, who was probably going senile (not that Tsuna would ever let him know he said that), in a small town out in the countryside of a foreign country. It was unheard of! Well, at least he now knew that his parents have no common sense what-so-ever. _Seriously_, Tsuna started to think, _Whose parents leaves their son with a sick man that he has seen, like, three times in his life, in a place he doesn't know!_

Tsuna had just stepped through the front door of his grandfather's house-"More like haunted mini-mansion," Tsuna muttered bitterly-and shaken himself of the cold winter that was happening outside. He had seen his parents off in the taxi they were taking to the airport, and now he was going to check on his grandfather upstairs in his one of what seemed like thousands of uninhabited rooms.

Turning towards the large grandfather clock that was in foyer and looking at the time it held (_1:34_, he really shouldn't be up at this hour, but that was because his parents had to take the last flight back to Japan), Tsuna shed off his warm winter jacket and hung it onto the coat hanger to the left of him, also ridding himself his snow-caked shoes that were starting to defrost and dampen his socked feet. He then proceeded down the hardwood floor until he reached the base of the stairs. The warmth of the carpeted stairs gave mercy to he cold feet as his walked up the stairs, steps creaking ever so slightly with each one he went up.

_This house must be a thousand years old, at least, with the way it moans and groans all the time! It's always so drafty in hear too, even though it's such a fancy house, and dark too_, Tsuna cut off the ramble in his head as he approached the second to the last door on the right side of the hallway. Slowly turning the knob, as not to make much noise in case his grandfather was sleeping, Tsuna peeked in through the doorway. The lump on the ridiculously huge bed in the middle of the ridiculously huge room was rising and dropping steadily. Still asleep then.

Good.

Tsuna turned on his heel and walked away from the room after shutting the door quietly. He walked back into the hallway, down the steps, through the foyer, and went straight to the kitchen. The only place that actually seemed warm in this whole entire house. It was very lovely and also very, very quaint, a quality he had rarely seen within this house. Nice and small. Warm and comfy. Just like his house back home.

Oh, how he wished that he was in that warm taxi cab, heading to the airport with his mom and dad, going home and sleeping in his cozy bed in his comfy house. Yet, instead, he was stuck here in this cold and lonely place. You know, being as furnished as it was, this did not give way to any comfort for Tsuna. Once inside the kitchen, Tsuna looked around then flipped on the lights.

Ah.

This place was nice, it was the only room in the whole house that looked and felt inviting. The heat radiating from the recently used oven surrounded him, caressing his still slightly cold nerves. Soon enough, Tsuna was warm and feeling better. He grabbed a chair from the small table by the wall and sat down in it, thinking on how he was going to survive these six months he has to spend here. Maybe he could just sleep the months away, but he supposed not. Someone does still have to take care of his grandfather.

At that thought, Tsuna wondered where all the housekeepers and maids had went to. They were all here this morning… now they seemed to have just disappeared into the thin air. Now that he realized this, he searched around the kitchen to find that Milta, the one who cooked for them, not in the kitchen. Weird. Lost in mid thought, Tsuna was startled when the door creaked open and revealed his elderly grandfather.

"Ah! Timoteo-I mean, Grandfather! What are you doing out of bed? You be asleep to keep up your strength," Tsuna meekly told his grandfather, "You might catch a horrible cold out here and become even more sick!" Tsuna ushered himself out of his chair to reach for the elderly man.

"Tsuna," a raspy and gentle voice said. Tsuna froze. The old man looked towards his grandson, stern eyes trained on the other's, "There's going to be a snow storm tonight, and terrible one at that." Tsuna glanced through the small, octagonal window high above the sink. Even though it had been very dark out before, it seemed an absolute pitch black now, and snow that looked almost liked a white sandstorm blowing outside. Huh. When had it gotten like that?

"It's probably going to last the night and mostly tomorrow and it get's quite cold in this old"-Tsuna quirked a brow-"house at night as it is, I'm also quite worried you might get lost within it since it is larger than most houses. I know this house is already quite cold and dark at any given time, but tonight I want you to be safe and head up to bed soon, okay?"

Tsuna nodded and his grandfather headed out back down the hall, his back disappearing into the shadows. Staring after the old man for a minute, he felt something soft to his left. It a midnight blue blanket. _How awfully kind of him to do that_, Tsuna thought gratefully,_ to care about my safety and make sure I felt pleasant here._ Deciding a few more minutes in the kitchen couldn't hurt, Tsuna sat back down in his chair and covered himself with the blanket. It was so nice and warm and fuzzy and cozy and… his eyes fluttered closed; mind shutting down.

Soon he was off in a dream that seemed far, far away…

_x..X..x_

_Dong. Dong. Dong._

Once again, caramel eyes started to flutter, but this time they were opening. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Tsuna sat up, and looked up to where the digital clock on the oven should be. Yet, there was no neon red letters to look back at him, only the total darkness of the room did. A little alarmed, Tsuna sat up, _Huh. Must be a power outage… I should be getting to bed now I guess._

Tsuna got up and felt his way around towards the drawers and cabinets. Remembering his grandfather had said about a small oil lamp and some matches in there in case of emergencies like this, he groped around until he found the drawer all the way to the left that had it. Shuffling through it there a bunch of small knickknacks and old ink pens, but finally, in the back, Tsuna found the lamp and a few matches to go with it. Striking up a match, he lit the old-looking oil lamp.

Smiling to himself in satisfaction, he turned around to start walking out of the kitchen, remembering to bring the blanket with him. Step by step he walked towards down the hall leading to the foyer. As he walked, Tsuna felt a shiver go up his spine. Swallowing the off feelings he was starting to get, he blamed it on his nerves (oh, how he hated the dark still) and cursed this house for have such bad insulation.

"Get a hold of yourself, Tsuna, it's just this rickety old house and you've known that since day one you were here," Tsuna grumbled to himself, hating the house right now for all its worth. He stopped his ramblings when he noticed his own shadow on the ground. Looking up in surprise, he found he was in front of a giant window. Moonlight was shining through it, giving everything a soft glow and a shadow.

Weird. Wasn't there supposed to be a horrible blizzard going on outside right now?

Tsuna could've sworn Timoteo said it was going to last all night and all day tomorrow, but then why was there a cloudless sky. The only thing that seemed to disrupt the barren sky were the soft snowflakes that seemingly fell out of nowhere and onto the ground. He shrugged, _I guess the weather on the countryside in any country is still unpredictable._

He resumed his walking and came up towards the foyer when another shiver spiked up he back again. _S-Stupid house_, This time, though, he couldn't shake off the odd feelings that came with the shiver, _I-It's alright, it's just a house, just a house! It may be old and creepy, but it's still a house and only an old man is living in it._

He quickly turned on his heels and made his way to the stairs, only to find there were no stairs, only a dark mahogany door stared back at him in the face.

_Wh-Wha-_

Suddenly there was a loud _thump_ sound then footsteps coming towards him at an alarmingly fast rate. Tsuna's eyes opened wide with fear. Great, great, _great_ fear. Of something bad that going to happen. To him. Dropping the blanket he was holding, Tsuna lifted up the lamp and looked around. What he saw surprised him.

Instead of an old looking foyer with chips in the walls and nicks all over the floorboards, he saw a still equally big foyer, but it looked brand new. Almost like it was just built yesterday.

The footsteps got painfully louder.

Tsuna was in a panicking mode right now, not knowing what to do, where to go, or who was walking-no, practically running-towards him or probably even _after_ him. Turning once again to face the mysterious door that was in place of the stair, he grabbed the knob and yanked it open. Tsuna yelped as he dropped his lamp. It thumped to the floor and went out. A rush of cold air hit him from what seemingly looked like stairs leading down.

"Ah!"

The footsteps were now insanely loud. So, squeezing his eyes tight, Tsuna tore the lamp up from the ground and flung himself into the small corridor, slamming the door shut along the way. He slid down the door and sighed as the footsteps passed by the door without stopping. Tsuna deemed it safe to wait for a few minutes and catch his breath that seemed to get knocked out of him.

Tsuna was on the verge of tears. He didn't know what in the world was happened! I mean, where actually was he! He surely couldn't be at Timoteo's anymore, for there was _never_ a door where the stairs were and the house never looked that… _new_.

He decided not to dwell on it anymore, and in its stead, he would try and find out where it was. Thinking that there was no time like the present (and not because it was cold, dark, and _scary_ in the stairway) to go find out now. Tsuna's heart was beating hard against his chest, as if it wanted meld against his skin. Slowly he started Yet, as soon as he opened up the door a screamed ripped through he throat. He was suddenly grabbed from the doorway of stairs and forced to stare into a pair cold eyes. Another scream came from Tsuna as he struggled. The cold eyes looked away from him.

Then, as it did in the stairway, Tsuna's vision faded to the darkness that surrounded them.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Heheh. This was actually kind of fun to right. Well, besides the fact that I scared myself silly in the middle of it. Seriously, I was writing that part in the darkness of my basement because the sun went down and I didn't notice so I didn't turn on a light. Nothing else was on and then I was thinking to myself of how scared and creeped out Tsuna must be, and then the footsteps part came and I myself heard a noise and screamed. Well, anyways, I hoped you enjoyed it. Don't know if I will continue it, maybe if it gets a good amount of reviews I will. :P

Oh, and for those who are waiting for an update in Lost in the Moment, it shall be up shortly, like, a month or so. Just a little longer, I'm going to be redoing it so it can be even better. Thanks for waiting. :)


	2. Tenuto

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own Kateyo Hitman Reborn._

_Tenuto (Italian); sustained - Part of the tempo of a piece of music by holding or sustaining a single note._

_**Chapter Two **__- Tenuto_

* * *

It was cold, so cold but so warm at the same time. It was swirling; chasing each other. One could be without the other, and yet, as Tsuna started to wake from his slumber the warmth, overpower the cold until it was gone; nothing but the warmth remained now. It fully enveloped Tsuna, trying to lull him back into a deep slumber. Sleep was oh-so-tempting but Tsuna would have none of it and sat up. He still remember he had to check up on Timo-_granpa_ to see if he was still asleep because, and if Tsuna remembered right, he was up late last night to give Tsuna a blanket. Ah, that's right Tsuna fell asleep in the kitchen last night. Lolling his head around, Tsuna froze in an instant. Last night…

Tsuna looked around the room. He didn't fall asleep here, he fell asleep at the table in the kitchen. He sure as hell doesn't remember coming back up to his room afterwards as well. He thought about it and decided Timoteo probably got him somehow up the stairs and into his bed. Though, something told him that wasn't true, he decided to ignore that.

Tsuna took a glance a the clock, reading the numbers he made his way out of the comfy bed. Whatever, it must have been because of the stress of being left here, in this big and empty house, alone with only an old man, who he barely knew, for company. Oh man, life was just not fair to Tsuna sometimes. Well, whatever. Instead of pitying himself, Tsuna got up, noticing he was still in his clothing from yesterday. How could he not remember to even change?

Tsuna pointedly ignored the clenching in his stomach.

It was a new day so he needed some new clothes also. Picking out a fresh pair of pants, a shirt, some socks and a warm over shirt (what, it may have been warm in his bed, _surprisingly_, but it was still cold everywhere else in the house). Then, without much thought, Tsuna dressed into the warm outfit and headed out. Although, as soon as he opened the door, the warm had all but dispersed. The cold was back and, it seems, here to stay. Tsuna quickly scuttled out of the warm room and into coldness of the corridor. He stood still for a moment trying to adjust to the new drop in temperature before moving towards the stairway. As he made was to the stairs, the cold floor, even in his socks and walking on the rugs that were covering the floor, was still practically burning ice into his feet. It made Tsuna cringe the whole walk to the end of the corridor.

It was a good thing he chose a room close to the stairs which was, in turn, (somewhat) close to kitchen where he was headed. Glancing at the railing, Tsuna noticed for the first time how new they looked compared to the rest of the house. It was, by far, not brand new, but one could tell it was plenty newer than the all the wood paneling that surrounded it. It didn't have any nicks or crannies and certainly didn't wobble like old railings on stairwells. No, it was still slightly shiny with a nice, deep auburn color to it still. _Now that you mention it_, Tsuna thought, absently staring at the railings,_ the stairs look like they're only a couple of decades old too… They don't squeak like the ones on the opposite side of the house or practically break every time I step on one._ Tsuna guessed Timoteo replaced it because it was old, but then why didn't he replace the other stairs as well? It will have to be a questioned left unanswered because Tsuna just brushed it off as the old man only needing to replace the stairs he most frequently uses.

Tsuna silently passed through the foyer into the connecting halls leading to the kitchen. He walked through one, and halfway through he turned towards the main hall that goes to the kitchen. Tsuna didn't like this hall, not at all, because of the creepy portrait that hangs in it. This "creepy portrait" is a grand painting of someone who was apparently an ancestor and the one who had this house built. Tsuna wouldn't have minded this painting if the head, not just the eyes, didn't look like it was following you around the entire time. _And another thing, why is it hanging here instead of somewhere where everybody can see it when they walk into the house,_ Tsuna still kept leaning closely to the painting, examining it, _Wait. It… was it always frowning like this?_ Tsuna didn't have any time to think about as a cold hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed.

"Well, well look who's up. Did you have a nice sleep?"

Tsuna jumped almost a foot into the air before turning around and noticing it was Timoteo. Oh, crap, he forgot to check on him. He was such a bad caretaker (not to mention a failure at _everything_), why did his parents leave him here to do exactly that! Still, Tsuna replied anyways, voice slightly trembling after recalling his _dream_, "A-ah, yeah. I… yes, I did have a good sleep. Thank you for asking. Um, I was just heading to go make some breakfast so if you'll excuse me…" He felt guilty for forgetting to check up on Timoteo and already felt like he failed him even if it was only a small blunder.

Timoteo looked at Tsuna deeply for a moment then said in his old, raspy voice, "Of course, Tsuna, but I made some already for you, if you don't mind. Help yourself to whatever you would like. I'm just going to go back to bed and rest for a while now." His eyes glanced behind over Tsuna's shoulders once then proceeded to turn and head back to his room.

Tsuna numbly nodded his head before Timoteo had turned then watched his grandfather's back disappear around the corner before heading on into the kitchen. Not even sparing one glance towards the hanging portrait he wandered off into the kitchen. Great, now he feels even more guilty. Not only did Tsuna not check up on Timoteo, but his grandfather also took some of his own time to make _Tsuna_ breakfast-and not the other way around. Upon walking into the kitchen he say a wondrous meal awaiting him. Oh wow, this is just icing on top of the cake.

Not.

Every breakfast food imagined could be here… from the simple stuff like eggs and toast with jam to apple tarts and croissants and to full dishes like egg bakes and quiches. It was nothing like an ordinary Italian breakfast (which is what he was used to now and had for the entire time he was here) which was coffee, hot chocolate for him, and some cookies or breads. When had Timoteo have the time to make all of this? Surely he didn't just make it all, no, he couldn't have. Making just an egg sunny side up would have taken him, Tsuna, and entire two hours just to make correctly (this makes breakfast limited for Tsuna when someone isn't cooking for him).

Choosing only some of the items laid out, Tsuna began to eat and eat he did. After the first bite, he was officially hooked on Timoteo's cooking and praised his grandfather's skills in the art of food. This might just as well be better than his mom's cooking and that is saying something. Now that Tsuna thought about it, this was the first time Timoteo had cooking anything since he had first got here. The rest of the time it was the chefs or some of the maids who did it. Either way, he figured his appetite was now ruined for anyone else's meals now. Eating over half of what was laid out, Tsuna got up and dropped his plates into the sink. He went into the cupboards and started to take out some Tupperware only to notice a misshaped object in the back. Reaching although and pulling it forward he only looked at the object for a couple of seconds before realizing what it was. The object in the cupboard was an oil lamp. Though, it looked like it hadn't been used in decades; _centuries_. It was so dusty you couldn't see inside of it anymore plus the metal was all rusted now.

It also had a large crack on the side of the glass.

Huh. Wonder what it was doing up there.

Pushing it back where it belonged, Tsuna grabbled the Tupperware he needed and started to put the leftover food away. Opening up the fridge, which was barren and empty, he set each one carefully next to or on top of each other. What a perfect way to start of the day. A good sleep (he was still ignoring the dream). A good breakfast. And now he was being helpful and cleaning up.

Tsuna finally held his head up and regarded the little window over the sink. Just as his grandfather had said, there was still a blizzard going on outside. Only, it looked even harsher than it had yesterday night. It looked pure white out, like they were inside a giant igloo or something like that. Tsuna gave up trying to compare the whiteness surrounding the house and instead washed and dried his hands then left. Heading out back into the hall, he glanced towards his right through a window and looked ahead again.

Hmm… it looks nice out. Wait, what?

His head instantly shot back to the window again.

It was pure white still, nothing else.

_What was that_, he didn't even know_, I could have sworn when I just looked through that window it was sunny and there was no snow storm going on… Everything was picture perfect out a moment ago, I swear it was! _Tsuna didn't know and he didn't want to know. At all. He just sidestepped the distraction and head back towards the foyer to go to the living room.

Hours seemed to pass and nothing of significance seemed to have happened. Tsuna sat around reading a few books the shelves had (they were quite interesting too; one was about a little Italian boy in a prison camp who was there since he was young and broke free, he traveled trying to find his mom in a world he didn't know since all he knew was what was in the camp), watched some television (not a lot since it went out right in a middle of the show due to the storm) and even started doing his (purposely) forgotten homework (seriously, it was just that boring here). Timoteo came down around three o'clock and visited for an hour or so, but he immediately went back to bed afterwards. Life was good right now.

_Dong Dong Dong Dong Dong_

Tsuna was startled out of his nap to the grandfather clock sounding off. Boy, that thing scared him every time it chimed.

_Dong Dong Dong_

Ah, so it was eight o'clock now. Time goes by when you fall asleep after actually working hard. Slowly sitting back up on the floor, Tsuna picked up his scattered papers and pencils. Only then he noticed it was dark outside and the storm was going on anymore. Everything was as still as stone.

That was good maybe then the servants would be back tomorrow and make this place less empty and cold. Who was Tsuna kidding, this place would always be cold and empty. Tsuna was lost in his thoughts as he traveled down the corridors back to the foyer. He broke out if his thoughts when he heard creaking noises. Instantly his head shot up and looked around for Timoteo but saw no one. Okay, maybe it was all in his head, yeah, that's got to be it. He must be tired. Yeah, that's it. He's just tired so he's starting to get delirious.

Looking along the hall, there was no one and nothing. Just long, dark shadows of the tables and chairs in front of the windows. Okay, well, that wasn't helping his situation. Everything looked positively freaky at night. Tsuna started to freak out, but at least he didn't hear the noise anymore.

It was all in his head. That's it.

Not even a second after that thought, the noises were heard again, it sounded like the main staircase on the opposite side of the house; yet, these were definitely a lot closer. It sounded as though…

It sounded as though the were coming for the stairs he was near, or more like _underneath _the staircase. The creaks were getting louder and louder as though multiple people were walking up and down the stairs but couldn't get out. Up and down. Up and down. Coming closer then farther, closer then far. This isn't happening! There's no one here but me!

Then all of a sudden there was banging, loud, loud, _loud_ banging. It sounded like fists hitting the wall, passionately; desperately. Tsuna didn't know what was happening only that he must be going insane. There's no one here! There's no door there! There were never any stairs!

Along with the banging there was scratching, nails clawing at the walls looking for a way out. It could be heard from where Tsuna was at. It was gruesome and bone chilling. The scrapes echoing in his ears, singing a song of fear. No, no, no, _no!_ None of this is real! None of it!

Finally, to top it off, screams were being heard. Horrible, shrilling, anguish-filled screams.

God, make it stop! Make it stop!

Everything was happening all at once! The screams. The banging. The scratching. The walls started to shake from the force! Pictures fell and vases tumbled down and broke. There was so much going on and Tsuna couldn't take any of it!

All of his supplies crashed to the floor as he brought up his hands to his head to try to block out all the noise. Instantly he screwed his eyes shut and fell to the floor trying to make it so everything would just stop.

As suddenly as it happened, everything went dead. Nothing moved; everything was a still as the night was outside. Tsuna didn't dare breathe. He didn't know what just happened and didn't want to move from his safety position. Eventually he started to calm his heart by breathing out evenly.

Slowly, as if to not rile up whatever just happened again, he opened his eyes, lowered his hands and gently stood up. Everything was pitch black now and Tsuna could barely see past the front of his nose. Stumbling forward, his school supplies lay forgotten on the floor behind him, he tried to feel out the stairs blindly. What greeted him instead made him instantly want to go back into his little fetal position. A doorknob was found instead of a railing.

Tsuna started to tear up and let out a pathetic whimper.

He didn't know what to do know so he just stood and stood and stood there, staring at was should be stairs lead upwards, not down. He wanted laugh, and cry, mostly cry, but laugh because, well because… he didn't know but he figured he must be going insane by now so it's okay.

Instantly tearing up again he let some tears fall this time.

Shakily turning around he was about to head towards the kitchen because he knew it was there. When he started walking down the long and black hallway he stopped and froze. Ahead of him at the end of the corridor was a shadowed figure standing in front of a looking outside. The figure moved slightly, turning towards Tsuna's direction but didn't seem to notice him and turn back towards the window. More tears fell as Tsuna tried to silently run back to the foyer and head to the living room where he could hopefully take the back way upstairs. He would go up and hide in a room he would hopefully know.

Silently jogging as to not make much sound he was back in the foyer, panting and out of breath, praying he hadn't been heard. Fate must hate pleading because the next sounds Tsuna heard were footsteps coming closer and closer from the hall the shadowed figure was in.

_No, no, no, no! Please, no!_

Immediately he took off again, running towards the living. Tsuna was running and running and running, never stopping even when his lungs burned and legs felt like giving out. Running and running and running and running on and on and on and on. Seeming like it would never end.

The footsteps were even paced and even though it was like that, they kept coming closer and closer.

When Tsuna rounded the corner on the last hallway, he tripped over himself and instantly fell to the ground.

The footsteps were so loud! He couldn't concentrate!

Getting up, Tsuna took a mad dash down the corridor. He came to the stairs that were thankfully there and leaped up them three at a time. At the top, not even missing a beat, he ran. He ran so fast he could feel he was about to pass out.

The footsteps were relentless.

Shooting his hand out to the familiar knob, Tsuna twisted and shoved the door open as fast as he could in a hurry. After he shut the door effortlessly, surprised when it hadn't made a sound, and listened.

The footsteps closed in on the door, stopped, and walked away.

Tsuna just stared at the door in disbelief but still let out the breath of relief he didn't know he was holding in and turned around.

There was a man on the other side of the room staring directly at him.

The burning feeling that consumed Tsuna after adrenaline instantly froze, and he was suddenly as cold as ice.

The man opposite to him smiled and opened his mouth:

"You're back again."

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**__ Oh. My. God. I almost peed myself writing this. D: I wanted to start bawling in the middle of the night scene, I was writing this at night to create more of an atmosphere to feel what Tsuna would be feeling and holy crap. When I was writing the scene where he sees the shadowed figure in the window, a bird chirped, and my heart almost gave out. Anyways, just to clarify some things: Italian breakfasts do normally consist of just coffee and croissants or cracks, much like a lot of European countries. So when Tsuna saw what Timoteo, a full-blooded Italian, made for breakfast he was genuinely surprised. Okay, during what I like to call the insanity scene, Tsuna is still in the "real world" and not in the "other place." After he closes his eyes he is in the "other place." Finally, what I should have said in Chapter 1 is that this has nothing to do with the manga, "Noblesse," I have heard of it, but have not read it. I found the name pretty, found out what it meant and decided it was a really good name to have for this story. If to know just search it up._

_Thank you for anyone who supports this, and sorry for the long author's notes this time. I had really wanted to clarify some things. Please review, constructive criticism appreciated, thanks you! :)_


	3. Sforzando

_Sforzando (Italian); strained - A note at which is sharply accented_

_**Chapter Three **__- Sforzando_

* * *

_Dong._

"Hey, are you okay there," a quiet voice sounded.

_Dong._

"Are you not feeling well," the voice was a tad closer now.

_Dong._

"You know, you really shouldn't sleep here," the voice was over his head, "You might catch a cold. Tsuna?"

Slowly, ever so slowly, Tsuna's eyes fluttered open to look at the face of his grandfather. Once fully opened, he immediately sat straight up and looked around. The old man said nothing as Tsuna looked from him to the room around him and to the clock. It was only when Timoteo started to laugh did was he stopped.

"Studying seems to have taken a lot out of you. You must've done a good job then," he said with another chuckle.

What? No, he didn't fall asleep. That wasn't right... was it? He couldn't really remember but even so saying that felt a little off. He remembered starting his homework then dozing off then, well, then nothing really. That was blank. He could of swore he woke up at around eight though. Maybe he fell back asleep? Tsuna wouldn't put it past himself to do that.

"Oh, y-yeah," Tsuna stuttered in a shy way.

"Though, I really must push you to sleep in a bed at least," Timoteo spoke again as he started to turn around, "You looked like you were having a bad dream before so a bed might help."

Was he? Huh, he didn't remember dreaming, though he does remember having a very uncomfortable feeling when he woke up. Maybe he was having a nightmare.

"Okay, goodnight, grandpa," Tsuna called after the old man.

"Goodnigh, Tsuna," Timoteo said back as he stopped at the door near the foyer, "Be careful, though, this house seems a lot like a maze after dark," then he started walking again and was swallowed up by the darkness.

Tsuna stared and looked back again at his pencils and papers. He noticed that they didn't look like how they were before he fell asleep. The papers were scattered across the table and the pencils and pens were on the floor. Odd. Normally he doesn't move around that much in his sleep. Maybe he really should get to bed, his homework could wait a day. _Or maybe a few. Or maybe another week._

Tsuna snickered and walked into the foyer after organizing everything.

When morning came, Tsuna absolutely did not want to get out of the bed. He was still way too tired to fully wake up.

"Maybe it was from sleeping on the coffee table," Tsuna said out loud to himself.

As much as he wanted to believe that, something told Tsuna that wasn't it. Not completely anyways. Not to mention he ended up having a bad dream which, like last night, he could not remember for the life of him. What he did remember was a door, a large ornate door.

"A door," muttered Tsuna to himself. Well, whatever. Chalk it up to the fact this house was insanely creepy to walk through at night and gave him nightmares about the architexture. _Which, by the way, I almost died from being scared, like, a million times last night. This place is huge and scary at night._

With that, Tsuna steeled himself and pulled the covers off his body. He set his feet on the plush carpet and shuffled over to the window. An instant smile broke out on his face as he noticed:

No more blizzard.

"Awesome," He exclaimed and quickly got dressed.

He practically slid down the banner when he went downstairs, no longer was he stuck in this old house. Nevermind the fact it had only been two days.

"Ah, Tsuna, glad to see you're awake. It's almost two in the afternoon, I was starting to worry something was wrong," His grandfather looked up from the book he was reading.

Tsuna was about to reply when he realized three things. One: He seriously slept until two!? That was almost a twelve hour sleep!

Two: His grandfather was dressed, out of bed and reading in the living room.

Three: There was another person sitting on the loveseat across from said grandfather. A very annoyed-looking person. With silver hair.

Timoteo put down his book and motioned Tsuna to come closer, "This is Hayato. He comes and checks up on me every once in a while."

"O-Oh. Hello, I'm Tsuna," Tsuna said as he tried to offer a warm smile.

"I know that already," The silver haired boy said and then muttered under his breath, "idiot."

Tsuna could do nothing but awkwardly stand there then turned to his grandfather, "So, um, I was thinking I was going to go into town. You know, to get some fresh air and everything."

The silver haired guy (_Hayato_ his mind provided) looked disapprovingly at him then aired out an angry, "What? And leave your grandfather all alone with no one to help him? What if he wants to go back to his room? Who will help him up the stairs?"

"I, well, I guess, then, I d-don't really, um," Tsuna started to get really nervous. Wow, he really sucked at stuff like this when people got mad at him.

Timoteo chuckled and said, "It's alright, Hayato. I'll manage just fine. I got down here by myself after all."

Tsuna gave a half smile at him.

"But," Hayato started before getting cut off by the old man.

"I know, why don't you go together. It would do you both much better than being cooped up here with an old man in an old house," and with no room for further argument, Timoteo promptly went back to his book, "Go on now."

"Tch," the silver haired boy huffed. He lifted himself off the seat noisily and pushed past Tsuna into the foyer.

"I, well, a-alright then," Tsuna didn't really like the suggestion either but if his grandfather said so, "See you later then!"

With that, both were off.

"So, Hayato, are you from around here," Tsuna said out loud and, like the last three times he tried to make small conversation he was ignored.

_Great, this was not what I expected of today at all_.

"Here's where we go our separate ways, squirt," the boy beside him said.

Tsuna jumped a little and the smiled, "Sure! No problem! Um, see you!"

Then, just when Tsuna was going to turn, a hand was on his wrist stopping him from going anywhere.

"I just don't get it. He spoke so highly of you, but here you are. Just a worthless, snivelling brat. Seriously, what the hell! I'm so much better compared to you! And yet, you're apparently the one who's supposed to make everything better and help him! You," there were flames in his eyes as he spoke to Tsuna, "won't make anything better. You're only a hindrance to him. The old man is wrong."

Hayato shoved Tsuna aside and stalked off toward the entrance to the small town. Yet, before he stepped through to entrance gate, he stopped. Turning around to Tsuna, he said, "Good luck, kid. I'll see you again."

Then he made a little _tch_ sound and turned away again.

And to that, Tsuna had no idea what to think.

"But, aren't we the same age?"

So, honestly, he had no idea why he wanted to come outside to the village in the first place. It had something to do with getting fresh or something like that. He didn't quite remember because, seriously, it was _so boring. _There was nothing, absolutely nothing to do in this hovel of a town. It maybe took him whole half hour to fourty-five minutes to walk it up and down. It had only had two main streets for heaven's sake! It had, like, one place to eat and a bank and a mail office. That's it.

There was also a playground. A very deserted playground. Deserted meaning it looks like no one had touched it in at least fifty years. Seriously, the swingset was so rusted out, Tsuna thought sitting on it would have made the whole thing come crumbling down. Well, he guessed not many kids were in the town anyways or younger people in general (aside for that rude silver haired boy).

In all, it was a very uneventful day. He had no money, so he couldn't go into the diner. The playground looked like it would him tetanus and it was so could he thought we was going to get hypothermia.

Plus, the sun was going down so that didn't help anything either.

Tsuna sighed and made his way back to the house. He took out his phone and noticed it was past six. He wasted a lot of the time doing nothing. Partially the reason he was so cold.

The other part was he actually fell asleep. In the cold. Outside.

He woke up in time though, just as he was starting to lose feelings in both his hands and feet. What woke him up, he wasn't sure considering the town was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Look, I know I'm normally lazy and get tired fast, but this is ridiculous. I didn't wake up until almost two and now I fell asleep outside," Tsuna grumbled as he kicked a small chunk of ice, "Stupid, dumb Tsuna."

A shadow fell over him as he reached the fenced gate of the house. As he Tsuna reached for one of the iron handles, he paused. The air smelled of cigarette and ashes.

"You know, you really shouldn't call youself names. Not good for self-image and all that," stated a deep voice, "but, looking at you now, it would seem that's only the truth."

As startled as Tsuna was, he still managed to not shriek and turned towards the voice. Next to the gate, a tall man with a black suit was leaning on the pillar. A cigarette clung to his lips and his arms were crossed. His hat was tipped down but when he looked up slightly to eye Tsuna, his eyes were a slate of coal. Pitch black.

Tsuna took an unintentional step back.

"W-What? Who are you," Tsuna questioned, voice a bit squeaky. Again, at least he didn't shriek.

The man pushed himself off the stone and flung his cigarette to the ground after taking one more drag. Tsuna could hear the hiss when it his the snowy gravel and was snuffed out with a very shiny black shoe.

The man exhaled through his nose and fully turned toward Tsuna saying, "Hn. There really isn't anything outwardly special about you. What could he have been thinking?"

Somehow, although still very confused at who he was, the man struck a nerve with Tsuna.

"Okay, I know I don't look like one of the most dependable people out there, but my granda relied on me to take care of him and I will do a good job doing it because of that," Tsuna gave a last huff as he finished.

The man smirked. Tsuna got a little chill down his spine.

"Well, that was something at least. Maybe you're not going to be so useless after all," the man gave a lazy drawl.

"I'm not," Tsuna said with a frown.

"Well, only the future can tell," the man laughed at that as if it was a joke. Tsuna only gave another frown at it.

"Oh, and it's Reborn," said the man walking away from Tsuna. Seriously, what's with everyone turning their backs to talk to him. Rude.

"What," Tsuna asked still staring after him.

"My name. It's Reborn," The man, Reborn, said turning his head to call back, "You asked who I was. I'm Reborn. Be sure to remember it, I bet we'll see each other again. Ciao."

With a small wave over his head, the man walked down the pathway to the town. Tsuna only gave one more huff before he opened the gate and went inside.

"Grandpa! Grandpa, I'm back," Tsuna called out expecting Timoteo to still be sitting in the chair, "Grandpa?"

Tsuna looked into the living room and saw the book from earlier lying on the coffee table. Well, he must have went off to bed already. He looked at his phone again for the time. It was almost seven. Well, old people liked to get to bed early anyways, right?

Tsuna sighed and decided he might as well get going to bed too. He slept really weirdly today, so maybe if he got a full night's rest, he'd be back tomorrow. Besides, there was nothing else to really do, the cable never turned back on it seemed and he really, really didn't want to do his homework.

He made his way up the stairs and into the guest room he was staying in. He didn't bother undressing and plopped himself down on the bed. Not even five minutes later, Tsuna was asleep.

_Dong._

More screams. Endless screams. Nothing to see but orange and red and countless fearful faces. Then a door charred shut.

_Dong._

Tsuna awoke with a gasp. His chest heaved and his hands shook. When he tried to sit up, it took some effort on his part. His skin started to glisten with sweat. A nightmare. He had an actual, terrifying nightmare.

He reached around the bed for his phone only to come up with nothing to show. He must have forgot it in his coat downstairs and there's no way he's going to go get it just to find out the time.

"I think a drink of water would do me some good, though," Tsuna mumbled as he started to get out of bed only to notice he was under the covers.

Odd.

He could've sworn he lied down on top of the covers before falling asleep. Not only that, but these covers don't seem to be the ones he remembers from yesterday. They were supposed to be worn and faded and have that old house smell. These were new and fluffy and very, very heavy.

Not only that, but his bed which was one just a simple wooden framed one with a nice headboard was now four poster bed. With a canopy. Tsuna, now that he noticed, realized it was a lot bigger than a full as well. It had a mound of soft pillows.

This was definitely not his room.

He was pretty sure he chose the right room before falling asleep. Almost about ninety percent sure anyways.

Tsuna was one small step away from hyperventilating, he was sure of it. This wasn't right. This really, really wasn't right. He threw the covers off and quickly made his way to the door.

_Oh, God. Even the room is bigger than the room I use._

He grabbed ahold of the door knob and noticed it was crystal, not brass or steel or any kind of metal a normal house would have now. He opened the door quietly, trying not to make the door creak and possibly wake Timoteo. It didn't.

Tsuna's heaving was getting heavier. That was not right either. Everything in the house creaked. Everything!

He ran out into the hallway and decided then to go grab his phone. He didn't understand how that would help him, but maybe it would help everything make sense.

His stride was slowly picking up the pace when he realized something. He heard noises coming from a room behind him. Not creaking noises but footstep noises.

Oh, God.

Soon Tsuna made a full out sprint for the end of the hall. Nothing looked familiar. There were supposed to be stairs here! Why aren't there stairs! He couldn't keep running forever and those footsteps weren't getting any farther.

They were getting closer.

No. No, no, no, no!

He was dreaming it was just a dream and it would all go away if he just pinched himself.

_Ow ow ow. Not a dream. Not a dream! Oh, God, please no! Why isn't this a dream!?_

He took off down a different hall. His heart felt like it was going to give out soon. He was going to die wasn't he?

Each step he took, the footsteps sounded like they were taking two.

Tsuna was so close to crying out. Tears were already streaming down his face. He didn't know how much longer he could run. This hallway seemed endless. Where were the stairs!

He rounded a corner into another hallway, tripping in the process.

NO!

Tsuna scrambled to find some purchase. He needed to get up! Get up! Now!

The footsteps sounded to be right behind him.

Go, now! He got to his feet in a mad scramble and crawl.

Each foot fall was like the sound of his own heart beating so, so loudly in his ear.

Make it go away. Make everything go away. Please!

_I'll do anything!_

Where were the stairs!

Tsuna came to a complete halt. It was a dead end. Nothing, no door, no hallway and definitely no stairs. That's it he was done.

He was frozen in place.

The steps behind him slowed their pace.

Why didn this have to happen to him? What has he done to deserve this?

For a few moment everything was silent. No footsteps. No racing heart. No fevered breathing. His eyes were tightly closed.

Silence.

Then, when a hand touched Tsuna's shoulder, a violent scream ripped from his throat. It was like a dam broke. He spun around with one hand raised potentially ready to either push or hit whatever was behind him.

A gloved hand caught his wrist.

"You're never going to do any damage with a swing like that," the voice was smooth and sent a tingle that went straight down to Tsuna's toes.

"W-Who are you? What are you doing in this house," Tsuna pathetically demanded of the strange man. His eyes were still screwed shut, afraid if he opened them something bad might happen.

"Well, it would be rather odd if I wasn't in this house seeing as I'm its owner and all. And the better question would be who exactly would you be and what are you doing here, young one," the voiced questioned him. The tone was even and soft, not harsh and cold.

Tsuna looked up and blinked his eyes open. He was met with an icy warm gaze that seemed oddly familiar.

Strange, but Tsuna had no time to speculate.

"I'm h-here because I'm s-supposed to b-be here," Tsuna stuttered lamely.

The man just eyed him silently before he released his grip from Tsuna's wrist. It stung slightly and Tsuna absentmindedly rubbed at it.

"I don't quite understand what that would mean, but you don't seem to have come with any ill intent aside for that swing," the man said without severing his gaze from Tsuna's.

Tsuna swallowed. It felt like he just convinced the devil not to take his soul.

The man broke his gaze slightly to look him up and down, "The real question is how are you getting in?"

Tsuna swallowed once again, "I just, um, walked through the front door?"

He hoped that was the right answer.

"Ah, I see. Curious indeed. I'll make sure to look into that tomorrow," he said and dug into his pocket to pull out a poket watch.

It was the first time Tsuna noticed it wasn't dark in the hall. There were lamps with candles inside lighting up the area. This must be an old section of the house his mind automatically supplied him.

Tsuna was in full attention again when the man snapped the watch close and put it back into his pocket, "It would seem it is still the small of the morning, no time for someone like you to up and about."

Tsuna huffed indignantly.

"Now, now, I'll let you stay here the night," said the man already putting a hand at the small of Tsuna's back and ushering him forward, "I can't let a young person such as yourself out into the night. Who knows what's out there at this time of night."

_Crazy people like you._ Not that Tsuna would ever dream of saying it out loud.

"I forgot to ask this, but what is your name," the man questioned.

Tsuna thought for a moment and debated whether or not he should give this obviously delusional guy his name but still said, "Tsuna."

The man made a small hum in acknowledgement while Tsuna ventured out a, "What's your name?"

The man took a small pause in his stride and answered, "You may call me Giotto."

There was no talking for the rest of the walk and when that ended abruptly it startled Tsuna. The door in front of him was partially opened and beyond lay the same room Tsuna first ran out of.

"You may take this room since you seem to have taken a liking to it," Giotto said in hushed tones, "Normally nobody would get to use this room but I'll make an exception for tonight."

Tsuna stumbled into the room and turned to face Giotto, finally getting a full look at him.

His eyes widened.

Giotto gave him a small smile and said, "Good night, Tsuna. Have nice dreams."

The door shut with the softest of _clicks_ and Tsuna was left alone with his swirling thoughts.

_He... he looked just like me._

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**__ Honestly, I don't know why I ever abandoned this piece. I really did love it when I first started to write it. Though, I think I lost where it was going for some reason and had no idea where to get back into place, but here I am. I hope you really enjoy it, I had fun getting back into the flow of things and tinkering with the details of the story. Thank you for your support!_


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